My Schwinn Paramount SS
10-14-08 | 07:40 PM
#2
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,552
Likes: 135
Since you didn't file off the cable guides, etc, you might check in with the Classic and Vintage crowd. They will prolly tell you to go to the Waterford site, where they have a history of the Paramount line, including a handy key to deciphering the serial number on the bottom bracket. From the era your frame is from, they were building some Paramount frames in the Waterford factory--awesome, US made--and then there was another series of bikes, called "Series" frames, which were built to Schwinn Paramount spec in Japan. Of course nowadays, people covet steel frames from Japan, so there's even some cache there. In either case, they were top quality frames, so you got a real winner of a frame there.
10-14-08 | 08:02 PM
#3
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,572
Likes: 7
From: SF
Bikes: 1972 Paramount Track, 1972 Paramount P13 Road, 1972 Paramount Tandem, 1986 Paramount Road, Merckx MXL, Gunnar Cross Hairs, Samson Illusion NJS, KHS Aero Track, Titus Racer X 29er, Tom Palermo Custom Touring
86-88, sell the frame to someone who will appreciate it and buy a Kilo or something.
10-14-08 | 08:30 PM
#5
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 6,567
Likes: 1,065
From: Berwyn PA
Bikes: I hate bikes!
Looks very similar to my 1989 Paramount OS. First year for oversized True Temper tubing. It is a very nice frame. Please don't hack it up to make it look "clean". If it is the same type as mentioned above, it was hand assembeld and silver brazed. On the Waterford site they give a pretty good explanation regarding the making of the frame. Also the fork is not original (you probably knew that).
10-15-08 | 08:48 AM
#6
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,552
Likes: 135
Look at the serial number on your bottom bracket.
Go to the Waterford website and look under "History." There's a guide for reading the serial number.
Figure it the **** out for yourself.
If there's any stickers on the bike that says "Series X" where X is some number, or PDG (abbreviation for Paramount Design Group) somewhere on the frame, it is not a Waterford Paramount.
Go to the Waterford website and look under "History." There's a guide for reading the serial number.
Figure it the **** out for yourself.
If there's any stickers on the bike that says "Series X" where X is some number, or PDG (abbreviation for Paramount Design Group) somewhere on the frame, it is not a Waterford Paramount.
10-15-08 | 08:56 AM
#7
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 1,885
Likes: 843
From: Santa Barbara Calif.
Don't worry about hacking that frame up, it is not a "real" Paramount, the real ones were from the glory days of the Schwinn family owned company.
Google "rat tail file" for some tips and tricks to slicking that bike up!
Google "rat tail file" for some tips and tricks to slicking that bike up!
10-25-08 | 07:34 AM
#8
Gluteus Enormus
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 2,245
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh, NC
Bikes: Yes
Ouch! It almost hurts to see that frame with axle nuts on those dropouts. That is a USA built Paramount. None of the Series bikes had chrome. It also seems to be a pre-OS frame but it's hard to tell from the pics. That frame shouldn't be an SS or commuter. If the rust is superficial and the frame has no damage you can sell it and buy another SS frame and have money left over.
10-25-08 | 09:01 AM
#9
blah
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 5,573
Likes: 6
From: Oakland, CA
The decals on that bike date it from 1984 to 1992. Yea its not from the glory days, but its a finely made bike.
https://www.waterfordbikes.com/site/c...ara_dating.php
check that website for how to date your bike with the serial number, and also history of the paramount name.
10-25-08 | 09:46 AM
#10
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,572
Likes: 7
From: SF
Bikes: 1972 Paramount Track, 1972 Paramount P13 Road, 1972 Paramount Tandem, 1986 Paramount Road, Merckx MXL, Gunnar Cross Hairs, Samson Illusion NJS, KHS Aero Track, Titus Racer X 29er, Tom Palermo Custom Touring
Having ridden 60s, 70s and 80s Paramounts my 86 is about the nicest riding/handling of the bunch. I still might buy the 1939 Paramount track on ebay (I think it's really a 41 or 42, but he swears it is a 39) though. Also 84 had the rainbow decals, I believe.
10-25-08 | 10:05 AM
#11
10 Speed
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 400
Likes: 0
Dude, that is one of the finest frames to roll out of the Waterford factory. The spirit of Ignatz Schwinn demands that period correct Shimano Dura Ace or Campy Record adorn that frame. Even as a new fixie fan, seeing that frame with axle nuts hurts. My guess is that it's a 88 or 89 right before the switch to OS tubing. Find a matching fork and have both sent to Waterford to be stripped and re-laquered. Then build it up right and buy a cheapo FG/SS framest for your fixed addiction.
10-25-08 | 11:38 AM
#12
Banned
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
From: Richmond Virginia
Bikes: CSK Points track, De Rosa Vega road, GT iDrive 3.0 mtb, Schwinn Paramount 8spd. beater...wish list: karate monkey ss, GT Xizang, 2009 caad9 (december) fixed gear beater of some sort.
dude, lollerskates
i have a 1991 series 5 paramount( not waterford
), and although i beat the **** out of it on a daily basis, i have all the original parts and leave it geared. gear it up or sell it.
i have a 1991 series 5 paramount( not waterford
), and although i beat the **** out of it on a daily basis, i have all the original parts and leave it geared. gear it up or sell it.
10-25-08 | 02:23 PM
#13
Please tell me you didn't butcher a Paramount.
__________________
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
10-25-08 | 02:46 PM
#15
__________________
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in a wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
